Possibly Love?
by AliceStar
Summary: Our two beloved treasure hunters are at it again, but only this time they're on Angel Island and they're all alone! Please R&R!
1. Long Time No See Treasure Hunter!

**_Possibly Love_?**

**By: AliceStar**

* * *

**(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!) Welcome to the first official chapter of Possibly Love. It's gonna be an all-out war between our favorite crimson Guardian and our beloved treasure huntress. Be sure to stay tuned 'cause all is fair in Possibly Love and War!**

* * *

It was a bright, lovely sunny day that enveloped the earth in its great warmth. Below the luminous sapphire sky, flying over the misty waves of the ocean was Rouge. 

The lovely treasure hunter was piloting a marble-colored helicopter: destination, Angel Island.

Rouge had her lofty sights set upon the crown jewel of Angel Island, the Master Emerald. It was the largest, most gorgeous stone she had set her sights upon; it was love at first sight. And now, that the treasure huntress was smitten, she had decided to claim it for her own.

Rouge smirked as she looked outside of her window and lowered her gaze upon the green, hovering island. That jewel was good as hers!

Then, the huntress frowned; she knew there would be a lot of work involved in order to win _her_ glittering gem from _that_ darn echidna! He _always_ seemed to give her more trouble than his worth!

'_Stupid echidna!_ _I swear, he chased me from the ends of the Earth to get those shards_!'

She remembered the last time their fists collided for the domain of the Master Emerald, and she found herself giving in to the will of the echidna because she started falling for him.

Rouge growled, '_How stupid was I back then? And besides, how could I fall for someone who has longer hair than me_?'

"He looks like a girl! …One with really big, bulky muscles!" Rouge mused to herself out loud.

But this time around, she was prepared for their next face off, and the only way she'd leave Angel Island is with the Master Emerald in her clutches.

As the sleek helicopter soared over the floating paradise, Rouge's eyes rapidly roamed over the Island for a decent place to land and possibly set camp. Then her sapphire-hued eyes spotted a nice piece of even terrain.

"Gotcha," Rouge said to herself with a smirk.

She slowly circled the helicopter until it landed perfectly on the smooth ground. Removing the head gear from her ears, she unlocked the heavy doors and opened the doors, preparing for her departure.

As soon as she stepped out of the copter, she was greeted with a gentle breeze. The huntress couldn't help but smile; the sun was glistering warmly upon her skin, the wind was whistling softly; the day was just right.

Coming to reality and remembering her conquest, the huntress opened her eyes and leveled her blue-eyed gaze; just as she had predicted, the red echidna was there waiting for her, arms crossed over his chest.

Icy amethyst eyes gleamed from the one whose fur mirrored the color of flames; apparently, no one in his book made reservations upon his island and he was more than ready to play the role of a bouncer.

Then, his cold glare spontaneously melted once he saw his new visitor was batgirl.

"Rouge?"

"Long time no see, treasure hunter," Rouge said with her trademark smirk.

She smiled at him a moment longer then reentered her helicopter with Knuckles following her.

…Not _quite _following her inside of the mechanism, where he'd be breathing down her neck, but he was near enough where he was hovering nearby.

He looked cautiously at the unknown object Rouge vanished into, then he turned his gaze back to Rouge.

"What are you doing here, Rouge?" Knuckles asked.

His tone wasn't hostile, it was more so skeptical, cautious.

"Heh, what else would I be here for?" Rouge replied smoothly.

Rouge came out of the helicopter with her millions of duffel bags, and dropped them on the floor. Stacks, if mountains of bags ranging from hues of bright magenta to deep, violets were piled in front of the echidna's nose.

If the red echidna didn't know any better, he'd think that the white bat was permanently moving in. It certainly appeared that she had brought all of her belongings today.

"You didn't answer me," Knuckles said keeping his eyes on her.

Rouge hopped out of the helicopter and closed the door behind her. She sighed at Knuckles' incompetence and walked towards him until she was within five feet of the echidna.

The bat stared at him coolly, smiling slightly.

"Okay then echidna, if you gotta know, I've come to claim my emerald," Rouge said.

Knuckles chuckled to himself and Rouge's ears perked up.

"And just what are you laughing at?" She asked with a tinge of irritation in her voice.

"So, you're still the same thief, huh? Stupid of me to have thought you changed batgirl," Knuckles said with a hint of melancholy in his voice.

"What are you, my pastor? Now get outta my way before I have to get violent," Rouge hissed.

Knuckles sighed, yep, this was this the same batgirl; when something got in her way and she lost her temper, she'd beat it to death…or at least she'd try to.

"Fine, do as you wish batgirl."

Rouge nodded her head, pleased, " Good."

As Rouge tried to march past Knuckles, he stepped in her way. Blinking, she moved to her other side, as he did seconds later.

Rouge frowned, realizing that every direction she tried to move to avoid Knuckles, he mirrored her movements blocking her path, and once he saw this was irritating her, a smirk came to his lips.

"What are you doing? Quit acting stupid and get outta my way!" Rouge growled.

There Knuckles' philosophy came into play; she was ready to beat her impeding obstacle to death.

"Do as you wish batgirl, but the Master Emerald is off limits," Knuckles said still smirking.

Rouge took a step backwards then curled her fists into tight balls. She narrowed her eyes to the point where Knuckles believed them to have been closed.

"Move, 'cause your cruisin' for a bruisin' echidna!" Rouge snarled.

With a smirk Knuckles slowly raised his fists taking the stance that mirrored the likeness of a world-class boxer. Without a second thought, Rouge charged him, enveloped in her unruly anger.

Rouge swung a fist at Knuckles who avoided her movements as fluidly and as smooth as water.

Every blow Rouge threw at him he evaded gracefully and he even had enough wind to spout retorts.

"You shouldn't fight with your fists, upper body strength isn't your strongest attribute," Knuckles said dodging another punch.

"Put up or shut up!" Rouge yelled charging Knuckles.

She tried a split kick but Knuckles blocked her attack and moved behind her swiftly, "You fight with rage, not your mind or heart, that's your weakness batgirl," Knuckles said.

Rouge growled and quickly followed her attack up with a high kick that Knuckles dodged by performing a back flip.

Rouge turned to look at him and snarled; not only was he successfully avoiding her attacks, but the jerk was saying helpful quips as well!

" _He's_ _dodging all my attacks like they're nothing! And he's critiquing me like I'm a baby! He must pay for that! I'll nail him_!" Rouge thought with sweat rolling down her face.

With a loud cry, Rouge swung a fast, powerful uppercut at the tall echidna. Knuckles sidestepped her punch, grabbed her and leaned her backwards in his arms as he leaned his face towards hers, leaving them only a few centimeters away from each other.

Rouge gasped, finding herself to be stuck, staring into familiar, warm plum-colored eyes. She was much too stunned to protest her position.

"You've gotten much stronger, but you're still not getting the Master Emerald," Knuckles whispered in a hushed, deep voice.

Knuckles released his hold on Rouge, and began walking away from her slowly, and with his back to her, he didn't notice how brilliantly the batgirl was blushing.

Her awe quickly changed into stubbornness, and she glared at him for a while then stomped off towards her duffel bags. Knuckles turned his head to look back at her.

"Now what are you planning batgirl?" Knuckles asked patiently.

Rouge looked at him furiously; mentally she was running two options on how to respond to his inquiry.

Option A: Shout profanities at him like a sailor or Option B: Coyly give him an answer that would frustrate the heck out of him. She settled for the second option.

"If I can't beat you by force, then I'll beat you with my superior mind," Rouge said pointing to her head.

"Oh really? How so?" Knuckles asked laughing a little.

"I'm going to stay on this cute lil' Island and figure out your weakness, or just take the Emerald when your asleep," Rouge said smiling.

"I doubt that you'll even be able to endure staying here two nights tops," Knuckles crouching to his knees.

"And why not?" Rouge perched curiously, "I am a great treasure hunter!"

Rouge made a cute, seductive pose as she rolled her hand through her hair and down on her thighs. Knuckles took a seat, crossed his legs so he was sitting comfortably Indian-style, then he smiled at Rouge, "Now I give you a day tops."

Rouge sighed then turned her back to Knuckles, "Well, it's obvious that I'm wasting my time talking to an inferior being. Sometimes, I'm surprised that you're even smart enough to understand me!"

She began walking into the rich plantation of shrubs and trees until Knuckles voice rang out, "Where are you going?"

Rouge turned to face him, still keeping her arrogant air about her. Where did he think she was going? To find the Emerald of course! That echidna was such a ding-a-ling-head sometimes…

"Where else? To steal the Master Emerald! Aren't you going to stop me?" Rouge asked.

A grin formed on Knuckles' face that made Rouge blush a soft pink; the smile gave him the air that he was quite gentle.

"No, 'cause the Master Emerald's that way," Knuckles hiking a thumb behind himself.

"…"

"You're lying!" Rouge said simply, anger slowly seeping into her voice.

"Never," Knuckles said simply.

"…"

Rouge stared harder into his amethyst eyes. The echidna was so calm and cool that she couldn't read him, but somehow her instincts were telling her that he was speaking the truth.

"Fine, then I'll be back by sunset," Rouge replied.

Knuckles' grin grew even larger, "The Master Emerald Shrine is at least a twelve-day journey."

" Twelve days!" Rouge asked skeptically, " Last time I was here, it took me twelve seconds to get there!"

" That's because back then you went to the center of the island, these are the outskirts," Knuckles replied.

"Well, I don't I just get back in my helicopter and fly to the center of the island?" Rouge said.

"…You won't get that lucky again," Knuckles said, "Finding the Emerald that easily is a once in the lifetime thing…"

Rouge sighed, "Well, whatever! And besides…How long would it take you to get there? From our current location?" Rouge asked.

" A day tops, and even if you tried to voyage the journey, trust me, you don't want to be in the jungle at night," Knuckles said plainly, "Not all life here is friendly."

"What lives here?" Rouge asked.

"What doesn't live here?" Knuckles replied in a deeper, scarier voice; the tone he used when he spoke to Rouge during their battle at the Meteor Herd.

"…" the bat fell silent, processing his last words.

Then she laughed merrily, as if he had told a humorous joke.

"Ha! You're just trying to psych me out, aren't you, you little creep?" Rouge asked smoothly.

"If that's what you believe," Knuckles answered.

"Well, if it's a twelve day journey, then I'm going, despite all your fairytales, and good riddance echidna!" Rouge said waving him off.

Rouge picked up her belongings and waltzed into the jungle, singing merrily.

"Bye-bye Knucklehead!" Rouge said disappearing into the jungle.

Her voice was just fading away when he finally decided to become animated. The echidna watched her for a few seconds more before he decided to act.

Knuckles sighed, and rose to his feet, "That lady has no idea what she's getting herself into…she's gonna be the death of me!"

Knuckles turned away from where Rouge left then stared at her helicopter.

…Just _what_ was that weird thing batgirl had brought to his island?

"That thing might just bite me!" Knuckles hissed to himself.

Then, at jogging pace, he pursued Rouge and took off into the forest, taking a different route from the white bat.

"Fine bat girl if you wanna play games, " Knuckles smirked, " Then I'll right along!"

* * *

_To Be Continued!_

Please leave a review so I can hear what you think, okay? Any opinions? Any questions? Any thoughts? Jokes? Haha, okay, bye now!

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	2. Couple Feudings?

_Possibly Love?_

By AliceStar

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**(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!) **

* * *

The sky was begging to redden as the last glint of the sun was slowly beginning to fade away. Rouge could already feel the present warmth of the jungle beginning to fade, and as the darkness rolled in, the freezing temperatures followed as well.

Rouge clamped her hands around her arms as she tried to keep warm. The huntress growled; just what is with this place? First its blaring hot in the daytime, and now at night it feels like Antarctica!

"Boy, it sure gets cold here," Rouge said to herself, puffs of steam escaping her mouth.

As she was trudging through the moist, jungle terrain, the treasure huntress's ears perked up.

A light scuffling from the bushes had sounded a mental red flag for her. It was probably that silly echidna again.

"Trying to scare me again, eh echidna? You're such a creep," Rouge said lowering her eyelids with a smile.

No response came from the shuffling in the bushes, and this annoyed Rouge. By now that darn echidna should be coming out of the bushes looking like a deer in the headlights!

"Fine, be stubborn! See if I care!" She hissed.

In a pout, Rouge crossed her arms and her sights fell upon the ground. An idea hit her once she spotted a nice round stone. A nice round potentially painful stone if thrown hard enough.

A small, devilish smile formed on her lips and she nimbly dropped all of her belongings and picked the stone up.

She juggled it in her hands momentarily then threw the rock at the shuffling in the shrubs.

Instead of a red, fuming echidna stepping out of the bushes, a dark, shiny, scaly creature with blood red eyes roared in response. It rose to its full height of at least four meters.

"!" Rouge found herself speechless.

Its sights fell upon the little lovely bat that stared back, mouth agape in horror. The beast roared once more at her and she took off running, tearing through the forest.

As she streaked through the forest, with her heart pounding against her torso, she heard the gigantic steps of the creature following her.

There was no way Rouge was planning on having that thing catch her. T

here were too many things she just didn't like about the creature: the sharp fangs that were only millimeters from being her exact height, the enraged crimson eyes, and ultimately, the fact that she had no idea what the thing chasing her was!

If there was such an animal, she'd believe it to be a mix between a raptor, and a wolf.

Running was getting her nowhere once she realized the creature was catching her trends. Just as she tried to take flight, she felt the beast strike her back.

She yelped in pain as she plowed face-forward into a heap of freshly made mud. Rouge spit out the mud hastily and she heard the gigantic footsteps come to a stop.

She raised her head to see the beast circling her like a predator, more appropriately like a vulture. Rouge felt her heart drop, " Oh…this is it, I'm done for…"

As the beast was about to lunge at her, Rouge closed her eyes, preparing for the inevitable. Large approaching thumps sounded as the creature advanced.

Rouge gritted her teeth just as she felt the creature next to her…but then, she heard a painful, unearthly shriek.

She opened one eye to see a familiar red echidna standing before her. His gaze upon the hideous creature was valiant and fierce. Knuckles slowly approached the creature as it growled at him.

Rouge slowly rose off of her stomach, watching Knuckles slowly approach the creature with an almost bold stride.

The beast roared furiously and charged him, kicking up leaves, dirt, and bushes in its wake.

In response, Knuckles acquired a fighting pose, one that resembled a stance of Tai chi. Once the beast was within spitting distance of the echidna, it lowered its head to engulf the red warrior.

"Knuckles!" Rouge cried vainly, "Stop! You'll get killed!"

The last thing she saw was a dangerous gleam in the echidna's eyes and the beast plowing at him like a train. Dust billowed in the air, blocking her view.

"Knuckles!"

She heard a loud, sickening bone-cracking noise and looked towards the battle scene to see dust clouds bellowing up in the sky, once the smoke cleared, Rouge gasped; standing before her was the echidna with the ugly creature lying before his feet.

He slowly brushed off his shoulders, and turned to Rouge. His fierce, smoldering gaze softened as offered his hand to her, "Need a lift batgirl?"

Rouge stared at him in shock; just how bipolar was this guy? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Rouge finally attacked, " Uh…yeah…"

A smile grin formed on Rouge's face as she took his hand, "Nice work echidna, but don't think I owe you anything!"

"Are you okay?" Knuckles asked tenderly.

The loving gentleness in his tone surprised both of the treasure hunters and Rouge instantly looked at Knuckles.

Finding his falter, Knuckles shrugged off his mistake and buried it, " Are you hard of hearing? I thought I told you it's dangerous here at night!"

"I know…but…." Rouge paused.

"But?" Knuckles quirked raising both eyebrows.

"But, t-thank you," Rouge stammered slowly.

Like a natural impulse, she turned her back to the echidna, crossing her arms across her chest.

Her once tightly shut eyes popped open when she felt a soft, warm gloved hand touch her face.

Knuckles turned Rouge's face to his and now she was staring straight into his strong, lovely purple eyes, "Hey, you're more than welcome, batgirl."

The two treasure hunters stared into each other's eyes, both seeming mesmerized.

Knuckles slowly moved his free hand in direction towards Rouge's rosy cheeks, she gasped, '_Wh-what is he doing? Is he going to--!_'

She closed her eyes in hopes of a soft caress, only to receive a slight shove to her shoulder. Rouge instantly opened her eyes, " Huh?"

" What were your really thinking? Running off into the middle of the jungle at night. You are crazy!" Knuckles said with half a smile.

"I'm crazy? You're the one who took on that…THAT THING!" Rouge exclaimed.

Knuckles stared at Rouge with a small smile on his face, one that looked almost dreamy.

"What?" Rouge piped.

She turned her back to him, just look how rude he was being, staring at her like that!

"You're--" he lifted a finger as if to say something then he paused.

"I'm what?"

Knuckles shook his head as an even bigger grin crossed his face. Now Rouge was dying to know just what he was going to say.

"Okay, what is it echidna?" Rouge said putting her hands on her hips.

Rouge's eyes fell upon her zillions of duffel bags beside Knuckles' left foot. However, she did notice that she was missing about a fourth of her bags.

"You got all those for me?" Rouge asked softly.

He smiled at her then lifted all of her duffel bags and started walking away. Rouge gasped and followed after him.

"Hey! I don't need your help! I can carry them on my own!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Follow me batgirl," Knuckles replied simply.

"Wait! Where are you gonna take me, and what about all my other duffel bags?" Rouge chirped.

"I'll come back for those later, but as for now, you need to get cleaned up. Mud isn't very becoming for you," He replied not looking back.

Rouge touched her face with a quick swipe of her hands then she silently followed Knuckles, her eyes pasted dead ahead on the tall echidna in front of her.

Before she made another sassy remark aimed at the echidna, her eyes fell upon his bloodstained gloves, and remembering his battle against that horrible creature…

...Perhaps now wouldn't be the best time to get on the echidna's bad side...

* * *

After journeying through the jungle with an awkward silence between the two warriors, Knuckles finally came to a stop and Rouge almost nearly bumped into him.

"Goodness!" Rouge muttered to herself.

"Behold, Angel Springs," Knuckles said gesturing to the lake.

Rouge's eyes lit up as she saw the glittering lake. Something as beautiful as the sight before her was like a haven! Before her were icy-hued cascading waterfalls which pooled into shallow lakes.

The lakes glinted beautifully as they reflected the sun's great eye, and thick waifs of steam rose from the sky-hued lakes and curled into the air.

She stepped passed a smirking Knuckles. She gently took a knee before staring into the water. She looked passed her beaming reflection and straight to the bottom of the lake's sandy floor.

She even saw little colorful fish that scuttled by!

She removed a white, silky glove to place a tan finger into the pool of water.

"It's warm, the water I mean," Rouge said with a small smile.

"Yeah, this is Angel Island's biggest hot spring, it's one of my favorite places to go after an intense day of training," Knuckles said.

They both quietly admired the moonlit hot spring together until Knuckles turned away and left.

"Wait, where are you going?" Rouge asked.

"I'm going to get the rest of your belongings, but do enjoy yourself while I'm away," Knuckles said disappearing into the bushes.

A cute little smirk appeared on Rouge's face as she watched him go away. Once she watched the last of his crimson figure disappear she slipped out of her muddy clothes and crept into the lake.

Once she felt the soothing heat of the lake touch her body, she cooed with pleasure. She bathed herself in the lake's warm cerulean waters until her fur returned to its shiny, ivory color.

"Oh, this feels so nice," Rouge whispered to herself.

She let out another content purr then slowly looked around the hot springs and to her dismal found no echidna. Then she blinked, wondering about her last thought.

"_Wait a minute, am I unhappy that he's not here? What's a matter with me?_" Rouge thought to herself.

Rouge sighed as she slowly slipped out of the Angel Springs and before she could take another step, her eyes darted to a white tank top and a pair of gray sweatpants folded neatly on the ground for her convenience.

A simple smile crossed Rouge's face.

"_He's still a creep_," Rouge thought with a smile, and then she grabbed the clothes. Once she was dressed, she slowly strolled through the forest searching for any signs of the red echidna.

* * *

As she journeyed near the center of the forest she stopped. In front of Rouge was her orchid tent set-up properly, a warm toasty fire blazing and all her duffel bags and luggage piled neatly by her tent.

Her ears heard a crinkle of a leaf and she instantly turned around in hopes to locate her prey.

However no one was in sight, she looked around at every angle she could, and soon she lowered her ears, feeling slightly scared.

She heard a hearty laugh, then she turned to look to her rear, but this time she saw the guardian behind her.

" Are you getting slower?" Knuckles asked.

"Are you….Are you….um...getting freakier?" Rouge burst out making a rather lame comeback.

Knuckles stared at her for a while in half confusion, and half amusement, "Not to mention you're getting stranger as well."

"What? How dare you! You….you creep!" Rouge exclaimed.

Rouge threw a spirited punch at Knuckles who caught her slender hand. In the middle of Rouge's second attempt at a punch, she winced in pain and fell to a knee. Knuckles' eyes widened and he stooped to a knee as well.

"Are you okay Rouge?" Knuckles asked.

"Eh, it's my back…." Rouge moaned, "I think I just threw it out….I'll go sleep now--"

"No! Let me help you!" Knuckles spewed guilty, "It's the least I could do."

A wicked smile played on Rouge's lips but she put on her best, sweet little innocent face for Knuckles, "Well, If you insist."

"Well, let's see if this works," Knuckles said more to himself than Rouge.

Knuckles got behind Rouge and started giving her a firm, but gentle back massage.

"How does this feel?" Knuckles asked with compassion.

"Just fine," Rouge said with a secretive sly smile.

While Knuckles was giving Rouge a massage both of them were thinking a series of different thoughts.

"_I'm so sorry if I hurt her, I'm so sorry if I hurt her, I'm so sorry if I hurt her_, _I'm so sorry if I hurt her,"_ -Knuckles

"_He may be the stronger of us two….but I'm certainly the brains! Hmm, now I wonder if I can get him to give me a pedicure on Tuesday_." -Rouge

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To be continued! 

Review and Alice shall renew!

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	3. Rain on me

_Possibly Love?_

By AliceStar

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**(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!)**

* * *

It was nearly dawn by the time Rouge began to awaken. She slowly rose into a deep, almost relaxing morning back stretch. The sun slowly spilled over her slender figure, as it's bright rays warmed her. 

She sighed softly as her torso gently fell onto her fluffy bed quilts, and her legs dangled freely in the air behind her. It was another day, and that meant another chance to captivate the Master Emerald.

Before she could contemplate upon the situation anymore, she smelled a slight arising aroma, it smelled like breakfast. Like a curious kitten, Rouge slowly stepped out of her orchid tent.

She spotted the red echidna crouched on the ground tending to the fire pit. With the notion in mind of trying to not be detected, Rouge tried to slowly creep back into her orchid tent. A small smile grew upon Knuckles' lips, "Good morning Rouge."

In shock Rouge squealed and turned around to face the echidna that had an even larger grin on his face, "Umm, good morning Knuckles! Whatcha makin' there?"

"Like most normal people, I cook breakfast," Knuckles replied.

Rouge burst out in laughter, " Wait a minute! Wait a minute! YOU cook?"

Rouge zipped over so quickly to Knuckles, that the echidna almost could have mistaken her for Sonic, "Umm, yeah, why?"

"Now this is funny! You really cook? Aww, how cute! Does little Knuxy-wuxy want a pretty pink apron?" Rouge asked while exploding with laughter.

She grabbed his cheek playfully and wiggled it in her grip. Knuckles shrugged her off of him and rubbed his face as she sat next to him still laughing.

"So, whatcha cookin' homemaker Knuckles?" Rouge asked.

Knuckles lowered his eyelids at her, " Herbal tea and hickory nuts."

"Ooh sounds good, serve me up some of that, Betty Crocker," Rouge said licking her lips.

Knuckles arched an eyebrow, " Oh really? Sorry, but I only have reservations set for one, and that's for Betty."

"Oh please? I'm so hungry!" Rouge exclaimed.

Knuckles looked into her unwavering, lovely resolved blue eyes. He felt himself buckling to her will and he sighed, '_Dammit, why do I fall for that_?'

"Fine, help yourself batgirl."

"Yeah!" Rouge exclaimed and she left towards her orchid tent and returned with two cups. She handed one cup to Knuckles and helped herself to a handful of hickory nuts from the basket they idled in. After eating a handful of the steaming, roasted hickory nuts she stuck her tongue out in disgust.

"Yuck! How can you stand the taste of these things? They're so bitter!" Rouge exclaimed.

"Indeed they are bitter, but they are extremely good for you. Here, wash the taste down with the Herbal tea," Knuckles said offering her his cup as he filled hers up with tea.

Rouge's eyes darted over at Knuckles then she slowly took a sip from his cup. Although the tea had little flavor it burned the bittersweet taste of the Hickory nuts out of her throat and for that she was thankful.

Knuckles returned the cup to his own lips and took a sip as well, closing his eyes. Rouge placed both of her slender hands around her cup and drank up her entire helping of Herbal tea until it was all gone and she released a humongous belch that echoed through out Angel Island.

She daintily placed her fingers to her lips, blushing and she turned to Knuckles who was staring at her quite disgustedly.

"That was disgusting," Knuckles said slightly perturbed.

Rouge giggled uneasily then rose to her feet and began to pack away her belongings.

"And where are you going to in such a rush?" Knuckles asked her.

"Hmph, foolish echidna, if I've told you once, then I've told you millions of times! I'm going to find my beauty, the Master Emerald, care to venture along?" Rouge asked.

"An eleven day journey? I think I'll pass," Knuckles replied finishing the pot of tea.

"Oh come on, why not get some healthy exercise in?" Rouge purred.

"I get plenty."

"How about sunshine?"

"Plenty as well."

"How about manners?"

"Plenty."

"What, are you some kind of machine? 'Plenty, plenty, plenty!"

"Don't you have some kind of innocent kindergartener to swindle now?"

"Yeah and I'm lookin' right at him!"

"You're so strange, and frankly, pathetic at the same time, congratulations, batgirl."

"…Big head…"

"Winged-rat."

" Cheap creep!"

" Jewel freak!"

"Dreadlocks from hell!"

"…."

Knuckles sighed, "Well you can keep playing your immature games, I'm going to train s'more."

Rouge huffed, that worked out nicely! And just who does he think he is anyway?

"Well fine echidna! I'm leaving!" Rouge started packing her belongings but Knuckles turned to face her with a smirk.

"You're not going to get within one hundred meters from here," Knuckles said.

"And what makes you think so?" Rouge interrogated eying him suspiciously.

"It's going to pour rain pretty soon, and you're not going to travel in that kind of weather," Knuckles said shaking his head.

Before Rouge could reply a droplet of rain splattered on her face and then a cascade of rain was unleashed and in a matter of seconds the two hunters were drenched.

Knuckles crossed his arms and smiled at Rouge, "See batgirl? Not only am I one with the Master Emerald, but I am also one with Angel Island. Now if you excuse me, I've got some training to do."

Knuckles gracefully leapt onto a tree limb and like an acrobat, swung himself on a wider branch. He rose to his feet, and with great balance begin to throw lighting-fast punches at the air. Rouge trotted towards the tree until she was below him.

"Knuckles! Quick being stupid and get down from there, you'll hurt yourself!" Rouge barked.

Knuckles ignored Rouge and continued throwing punches at thin air, "What are you, my mother?"

Rouge growled, "Knuckles, it's raining…no, it's pouring out here! You can slip and fall! All it takes is one distraction!"

"Distraction? I am the guardian of the Master Emerald, I never get distracted!" Knuckles said doing a handstand.

While maintaining his balance, Knuckles' eyes fell upon Rouge who was pouting and stuck her hands upon her hips and her gaze wondered downward. The guardian's vision that was once fixed upon Rouge's face innocently fell upon the front of her soaked white shirt where her voluptuous bosom rested.

And to both his surprise…and pleasure through her soaked white shirt he could see a pink, lacy bra. At that very moment, if possible, his face glowed a bright red, and he lost his footing on the branch. His chin crunched into the branch and he plummeted to the ground with a sickening crack afterwards. Rouge ran to the aid of the echidna who was holding his leg, grimacing.

"Goodness! Are you all right?" Rouge piped.

" Fine," Knuckles replied curtly.

"It looks swollen, let me carry you to the tent," Rouge offered.

"I may be hurt, but I have my pride," Knuckles said, scoffing at such a foolish comment.

True, even with pain the echidna was still a hardhead. He'd do anything to prove himself. Even if Angel Island was on fire, and sinking into the ocean, Knuckles would claim that everything was under his control!

Rouge frowned, there was absolutely no way to convince the echidna to take her offer…unless…

An idea popped in Rouge's head and she couldn't help but smile, "Knuckles, you're such a sissy."

"Sissy? Now wait just a min—"

As Knuckles opened his mouth to speak, Rouge's lips intertwined with his, locking him into a deep kiss. Once Rouge's lips left his, another deep blush took over the echidna's face and he was completely silent.

"There, now will you be a good boy and stay silent?" Rouge asked with a smile.

"…"

She picked up Knuckles and gave him a piggyback ride into her tent while the echidna was still in shock. Ha! Now there was no way he'd protest her help!

She took a match and lit an empty lantern she found in her tent. The darkness vanished as the lantern gave the tent a sheen glow. She searched through a couple more of her duffel bags and pulled out some wrapping tape and turned towards Knuckles who was staring at her; studying her.

"Okay, hold still," Rouge said.

She took a knee to sit next to Knuckles, who she noticed inched away from her. She blinked and moved next to him only to see him move away from her. She lowered her eyelids and reached a hand towards him to receive Knuckles evading her grasp.

"What is wrong with you echidna?" Rouge asked.

"What's wrong with me? You're the one tryin' to grab me!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"I'm tryin' to help you here! Now just stay still so I can wrap and ice your leg!" Rouge hissed.

Knuckles sighed as he allowed Rouge to wrap and ice his leg. As Rouge slowly wrapped his leg, she heard his heart beating loud against his chest. Her cool, blue eyes lit by the lantern flicked up towards Knuckles. A small smile came to her lips.

" Are you nervous echidna? Are you scared of little ole me?" Rouge asked with a twinge of fascination in her voice.

" Don't flatter yourself batgirl, I've just never been this close to a girl before, that's all," Knuckles said turning his gaze away from her.

"Girl? Pssh!I think you better recognize a woman when you see one kid!" Rouge replied seductively.

Knuckles lowered his eyelids, " As I've heard Sonic say, 'Girl please!'"

Rouge bust out laughing and Knuckles smiled as well, now inspecting his ankle wrapping. He slowly began to leave and this caught Rouge's attention.

"Knuckles, where are you going?" Rouge asked quietly.

" I'm going to sleep under a tree, see you in the morning," he replied.

Rouge had to refrain from busting out in laughter, 'sleeping under a tree' just how weird did that sound? She looked at the echidna with what he considered an almost friendly expression.

"But you don't have to leave…" Rouge said almost timidly, "You can stay here for the night, there's enough space for both of us…"

Knuckles' eyes widened a bit but he did, however, sit down and rest his back against one of Rouge's velvet coats. Rouge smiled and dimmed the lantern until it was completely dark in the tent.

"Good night Rouge."

"Good night Knuckles. Oh and don't try anything either you creep…"

"GOOD NIGHT ROUGE!"

* * *

To be continued! 

Review and Alice shall renew!

LuV, Allygurl 8D


	4. Knuckles' journal?

_**Possibly Love?**_

**By AliceStar**

**

* * *

**

**(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!) **

**

* * *

**

It was just beginning to dawn over Angel Island, as a sure sign of a new day. Birds of different hues and shades of the rainbow sang merrily, and bees whimsically hummed, but none of these noises could compare to the loud snores coming from Rouge's orchid tent.

Knuckles lie awake and rather disgusted with the loud snores coming from the slumbering bat.

All night, he hadn't had been able to get a single wink of sleep, with Rouge kicking, punching and slapping him in her sleep.

And to top it all off, when she finally stopped attacking him, she began to snore like the loudest bears and wolves.

…Knuckles was in unparallel hell…

To save himself from going insane, he scrambled out of the tent and saw that it was beginning to dawn…a fine excuse for waking Rouge up.

'…_Finally, a way to get batgirl back!_ _And she can't do anything about it_!' Knuckles thought with an evil grin.

And almost giddily, he returned to the tent with an icy-cold pail of water and heaved it upon Rouge. His feral smile ignited like fire.

Spluttering, and outraged, Rouge awoke ungracefully, "WHAT THE HELL?"

Enjoying himself too much, Knuckles gave Rouge another dose, in which most of the water went in her mouth. Now she was livid.

'_And that extra bucket was for calling me a jerk in your sleep!' _Knuckles smiled warmly with that thought.

"It's dawn, good morning batgirl," Knuckles replied smiling smugly, crouching while rocking on his heels.

He calmly filed out of the tent, while Rouge, in hot pursuit, was fast on his heels, smoldering with anger. With a mixture of jetlag and anger, Rouge looked as vicious and hellacious as any demon.

" YOU'VE GOT TO THE COUNT OF THREE TO SAVE YOUR ASS—"

" Don't you have a Master Emerald to find?" Knuckles chimed coolly, spinning to face her with a smile.

Rouge stared at him heatedly then, realizing that he was getting the better of her, swapped her expression for a cooler one, "Hmph, that's right echidna, now if you excuse me, I've got journeying to do. Ta-ta!"

And with that said, she spun on her heels, and strolled out of sight. Knuckles even swore that he heard her humming happily.

Knuckles sweat-dropped, thinking, '_It's bipolar bat to the rescue…again_.'

Knuckles, like the morning before, began to boil water. He sat silently hunched over the fire pit. Rouge returned moments later with a basket of berries.

" Journeying?" Knuckles asked raising an eyebrow at the star-colored bat.

"Whatever, cook homemaker," Rouge said dropping the basket in front of Knuckles and turning on her heel.

"Cook? How does one cook berries batgi—"

Knuckles peered upward and saw Rouge disappear; the only clue of her whereabouts was from the swish of one of her orchid tent's drapes.

What seemed like hours later, Rouge returned in new apparel, wearing something tight enough that would make any guy howl like a wolf.

"Hey Knuckles what do ya think of—" she paused realizing that Knuckles was no longer at the fire pit, "Knuckles? Hello?"

She walked over to the pit where she originally left the berries and saw that placed inside the basket were dark, rich-colored grapes and fresh golden mangos.

She couldn't help but smile, apparently Knuckles had gone through the trouble of retrieving fruit for her.

She also noticed that he left her a cup of steaming Herbal tea. She picked up the basket, set to work on finishing her breakfast and once she finished, she began packing her belongings away.

In a matter of seconds she was back on the trail to the Master Emerald. As she trudged through thick greens, she spotted a familiar echidna perched in a tree studying her every moves.

Knuckles watched interestedly as she awkwardly tottered away with all of her belongings.

When the echidna was barely out of sight, Rouge noticed that he wasn't following her, and she called to him, "Hey, aren't you coming?"

"Nope, you're still nine days away from the Master Emerald," he answered plainly, "And I've got better things to do."

"Like what? Count how many ants there are in a Maple tree?" Rouge called to him laughing.

"Already done that twice, "Knuckles answered absently.

Once the echidna realized what he said sounded so stupid he looked back at Rouge who was staring at him completely silent, "Ignore that…"

"Anyways…Aren't you going to guard me or something? I mean not guard _me_…but stop me? I'm headin' to the Master emerald for Pete's sake!" Rouge exclaimed.

Knuckles didn't respond to her, but he kept a toothy grin and he hopped out of the tree and slowly went in the opposite direction, his back facing her.

"Hey! You're a bad guardian! BAD GURARDIAN!" Rouge scolded as if he was a dog.

Soon his crimson figure disappeared completely from her sight and she sighed, turning north, yet again.

She slowly began to start across the deep jungle terrain yet again**, and she only** stopped occasionally when her back was killing her, and to have a couple of snacks too.

Upon traveling, she discovered tall, ruby-colored mountains that were shrouded in an indigo fog. Rouge enjoyed the sight-seeing, but she also remembered that these tall beauties were a landmark as well.

"Heh, the Red Mountains," Rouge said to herself.

As she started through the mountains, her keen ears picked up the soft strides of a stranger.

Due to the great strength in her hearing, she was able to piece together that her stalker was about twenty paces behind her, wearing shoes with slightly worn soles, and from the light creeks she detected, it sounded as if this person was walking on the tips of their toes, not wanting to be heard.

Rouge smiled and planned her surprise attack, and just as fast as lightning, she turned around and gave a loud 'ROAR!'

Knuckles was startled, and fell backwards landing on his butt. Rouge burst out laughing but Knuckles didn't look too happy.

" Wahahahaha! I gotcha didn't I! Aww, did little batgirl scare the big, strong man?" Rouge asked smiling wickedly.

Knuckles stood to his feet and simply dusted himself off, trying to maintain some sort of pride, " Ha, ha, you got me, okay?"

"Admit it, I scared you, didn't I?" she said sounding proud.

"You're absolutely right…only your face could give me such a shock," Knuckles said coolly, knowing that he was pushing her buttons.

And he was absolutely right in his thinking; Rouge's ego was too big to let that remark slide unnoticed. Rouge's face went a slight shade of pink as her words came out slowly and quavering, " _Take_ _that back_…"

" Which part? The part that I said you're a lying thief…or the part that you're a—"

Before Knuckles could complete his words, Rouge charged at him in complete rage and engulfed him in a tackle.

Knuckles, being taken by surprise found himself knocked flat on his back by someone with half his strength.

" Take that back!" Rouge screamed throwing punches at him, " Take that **ba—"**

Knuckles tossed Rouge off of himself so she landed painlessly on her back.

She hit the ground with the wind knocked out of her and slowly gazed up into the sky to see the echidna towering over her, "Get a grip! Are you _**looking**_ for a fight?"

Rouge threw another punch at Knuckles, which he anticipated and swatted away effortlessly.

"No matter what you do, I refuse to fight you, got that?" Knuckles said.

He stared at her a bit longer, and then offered a hand to help her up. Rouge snorted indignantly and rose on her own as she refused his help.

She then noticed an object that was lying at Knuckles' feet. It looked a bit shabby and worn, but she was able to see that it looked like….

…A miniature notebook?

Blinking, she picked it up and gazed at the cover. She turned to look at Knuckles who was studying the view over the Red Mountains.

"Creep?"

"…"

"Creepy?"

"…" (Sighs)

"Okay, okay, Knuckles?"

"That's better, yes?"

"Do you by chance have a notebook?"

"Why?"

"Is it red?

" Why…"

" Is it small?"

"…"

"And lastly, is the cover tattered a bit?"

Something snapped in Knuckles and his eyes became burning amethysts," _Give it to me_!"

Rouge smiled, "Why?"

" GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" Knuckles roared, advancing on Rouge.

" Nuh-uh! It's mine now," Rouge said with a shifty smile.

Knuckles sighed, and regained his extremely calm composure, "I see there is no talking reason with you, so I come to my last resort…GIMME! GIMME! IT'S MINE! MINE! MINE!"

In a flash, Knuckles was grabbing at Rouge in every direction, Rouge, who was loving every second of it, was playing along.

Once she felt that he was getting closer to taking the book from her, she took flight and hovered above him, smiling.

"COME DOWN HERE NOW BATGIRL!" Knuckles hissed impatiently.

" My, my, my! This isn't the Knuckles that I'm used to," Rouge said coyly, she opened the book and started reading, "Now; let's see what's got you in such a tizzy."

" BATGIRL!" he cried frantically.

"Ah, here we go, **'**Day 505; Dear journal, today I tried some purple walnuts to add in my diet and I swear I had the worst case of diarrhea ever! I was going non-stop for weeks!'" Rouge burst out laughing leaving Knuckles feeling extremely embarrassed. He was at least twelve shades redder by now.

" Down….here…now…" He said through gritted teeth.

Rouge flipped through a few pages, and began yet again, " 'Day 896 (Knuckles begins to really panic); Dear journal, today, while guarding the Master Emerald, I met this batgirl, she says her name is Rouge the Bat…' What's this?"

Knuckles looked around frantically and saw a steep cliff, and this gave him an idea.

He ran on the walls of the cliff, just long enough to get leverage, and then he pounced at Rouge, gliding towards his destination with force and sheer determination.

" 'And the bat girl I met…boy, she had to be the most beau—' Knuckles! Look ouuuuuu-ooff!"

Knuckles collided with Rouge in the air, sending them both flying backwards. They both were cast down the mountainside rolling and tumbling.

Knuckles stopped himself from falling by digging his two claws in the redden mountainside. He looked up to see Rouge rolling towards him at a very high velocity screaming her head off.

" Oh shi—"

Rouge smacked into Knuckles sending them both crashing down. Rouge grabbed onto Knuckles's waist screaming and Knuckles flailed in the air helplessly.

While tumbling, Rouge's face bounced off of the rocky mountainside, and she released Knuckles, who once again dug into the mountainside.

He saw Rouge falling helplessly and turned back to look at her, " Rouge! Rouge? Can you hear me?"

A loud splat was heard and Knuckles turned his gaze to look down at the batgirl. It turned out that Rouge had landed in a mud pit, and was now facing the sky, rubbing her temples aggravatedly, " I'm…..fine…"

Knuckles took his eyes off of Rouge and saw something coming down the mountain towards him, "What the?"

It was one of Rouge's heavy suitcases hurling towards him at unreasonable speeds.

"This just isn't my day," Knuckles said wearily.

In a matter of seconds he was decked by Rouge's silver and purple suitcase and he began down the mountainside again.

He landed in the mud on top of something soft and warm. He slowly opened his eyes to see that he was on top of Rouge, and she didn't look to happy.

"Get offa me you creep!" Rouge cried.

Knuckles tried to quickly scramble off of Rouge, but yet again, with the return of Rouge's silver and purple suitcase, it smacked him in the back of the head, forcing him to fall on Rouge yet again, but only this he was mouth to mouth with the treasure hunter.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Rouge cried helplessly, trying to move Knuckles.

Knuckles of course, trying to make matters better was just as anxious as Rouge to remove the stranger from his lips.

He felt the weight of Rouge's suitcase and in a matter of seconds, managed to knock the parcel off, and send it flying high, in the sky.

Both treasure hunters scrambled away from each other breathing quickly. Rouge had managed to finds words first.

" CREEP! CREEP! CREEP!" Rouge screamed excitedly, " How dare you do that to me! I bet you had that planned all along, didn't you?"

"Now you're just being extreme, batgirl," Knuckles replied dully.

" Ugh! Look at me, my genuine leather outfit's ruined! Oh, that's it; I'm turning in for the night. I'm gonna take a bath at that lake over there… and don't you even let me catch you within fifty meters of that place, or ka-pow!" Rouge threatened brandishing a fist.

She picked up her suitcase and dragged it over towards the lake still fuming and muttering angrily.

Knuckles watched her slowly disappear out of sight, then he instantly went for his red little spiral notebook that they had fought over. He pulled the pen off of the notebook and began to write:

_Day 960_

_Dear journal,_

_Today was a very interesting day, and I learned a whole lot more about the female species._

_I get the feeling that they like having confrontations…and they're very touchy too….Anyways, _

_Remember the batgirl I spoke of? We got in a huge argument and she almost tried to read you! _

_Boy would have my life been ruined! But guess what? I got my very first kiss…it wasn't _

_glamorous, but it was definitely better than the time I ate those purple berries…Yep, definitely_

_better…And so I conclude, today was a good day. Until tomorrow, the end._

_Knuckles_

_Age 16_

_

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_

To be continued!

Enjoy, enjoy!

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	5. Stones, WaterFalls, and ummm BOYFRIENDS?

Possibly Love?

By AliceStar

* * *

(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!)

* * *

_The twilight sky was slowly cascading into a pinkish light as dawn was beginning to glow. _

_Underneath the changing sky was the red echidna curled in a ball. He slept silently and peacefully. Hovering above him was a snow-colored bat watching him. _

_Her once translucent eyes were shrouded with determination and apathy. She stood over the slumbering echidna with an incredibly heavy boulder tottering in her fingertips. _

_Her narrowed, icy eyes held him in her gaze and with no emotion in her voice she said to him, "Love you." _

_The rock delicately slipped through her hands and a sickening crack of a skull broke. _

_Blood splattered on the white bat and she smiled demonically, with her fangs bearing; all she thought of was that green pretty emerald. The Master Emerald was all hers now._

_

* * *

_

"!" Rouge gasped.

The treasure huntresssnapped back to reality, a little bewildered and shaken up. In her hands she held the same rock she saw in her vision.

Today, she _had_ planned to end her rivalry with the echidna, just like the bat had did in her daydream.

And also, just like the beautiful stranger in the dream she was holding a decent-sized rock; just heavy enough to split an echidna skull in several places.

It seemed quite cruel to do something like this, but how could Rouge possibly take home the Master Emerald with _him_ following her around, watching her every move?

And besides, this was a once and a lifetime opportunity, Knuckles was completely defenseless!

'_This is for the best anyways, it's not like I actually care for him…_' she thought.

She slowly raised the stone higher, her face was drenched with sweat and her knees shook.

"_Love you_," she heard herself say almost involuntarily.

Rouge's bottom lip quivered and tears streamed out of her eyes. She screamed and dropped the rock inches away from the echidna's face.

She fell to her knees with the tears now leaking uncontrollably.

A cell ring in the tune of Rouge's theme sounded and with sniffles she walked away and answered her phone trying to remove the kinks from her voice, "Hello?"

"_Rouge? Where the hell have you been_?" It was a male voice on the other side of the line that sounded pretty agitated, and Rouge was in no mood for this.

"What do you mean, 'where the hell have you been'? I told you last week, looking for the Master Emerald! Gees!" Rouge hissed.

"_On Angel Island huh? You've been spending a lot of time with that echidna, and every time I talk to you, you mention that Knuckles guy…….do you have something for him…'cause if you do, I'll kick his ass,"_ the boy over the phone growled.

" What? Will you ever stop prying in my life? And will you ever respect my dreams? And…LEAVE ME ALONE!" Rouge growled.

"_Don't let me hear news of you whoring around on me! I know you_," he barked.

" WHAT? HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME! SCREW YOU! SCREW YOU! SCREW YOOOOOOU!" Rouge shouted into the cell phone.

She hung up and threw the phone into the dirt. Rouge screamed angrily, turned to face Knuckles who was standing behind her looking at her with both eyebrows raised.

"And I thought you were only that loud when you snored," Knuckles replied.

Rouge only sighed and ran her hands through her hair, so Knuckles decided to speak up, "What was that all about?"

"Let me just put it this way, boys and boyfriends alike are asses," Rouge hissed.

"Not all guys are like that….maybe Sonic…" Knuckles replied, then he peered at her curiously, "What's a boyfriend?"

Rouge gagged, "WHAT?"

Knuckles spoke a little slower as if she didn't understand him the first time, "What is a 'boyfriend'?"

"What, were you born in the Middle Ages or something?" Rouge said looking a little amused.

Knuckles stared at her a little longer then Rouge stepped toward him with a smile, "Well echidna, a boyfriend is a guy who uhh, really likes this girl, and this girl would be his girlfriend and you see…he likes her! A lot!"

Rouge paused thinking how to explain the concept to her audience, "Anyways, a boyfriend is also a guy that a girl can talk to and he understands her, and appreciates her, and lets her speak her mind. He's her backbone, he's there to support her and help her grow, spiritually, and make her loved."

Rouge smiled, '_There! That was a lovely definition…Hey! I should probably trademark that and sell it!'_

"Is that what your boyfriend does?" Knuckles asked.

Rouge frowned, "My boyfriend, Rico, he used to be like that, but now he's just a jerk. He thinks I'm always messing around with some other guy…"

"And you're not."

"Exactly! I mean, he's called me twenty four times already!" Rouge snarled.

"Twenty four time? And you've been on Angel Island for three days, so that's eight times a day?" Knuckles said.

"Yeah, something like that," Rouge said slowly.

She then peered at Knuckles as if she had just discovered something new about him, Knuckles jumped back looking at her warily, "…Whatever it is…keep your distance."

" Knuckles…you're not a bad guy, you're really sweet, and sincere. If Rico was half the man that you are, he'd be twenty four-times sweeter!" Rouge smiled.

Knuckles blinked then licked his arm and smiled, " I'm not _that_ sweet!"

Rouge laughed then smiled at him, "Someday Knuckles, you'll make a girl really happy, you'll be a great boyfriend."

Rouge ran her hand through Knuckles' quills affectionately then went to lounge in her orchid tent.

Knuckles gazed at her then plopped on ground and sat Indian-style, appearing to be in great thought.

He knew Rouge was stressed, and she definitely no fun to be around when she was angry.

An idea popped in his head and he made his steps towards Rouge. In a matter of seconds he was standing over her, beaming like an idiot.

"Yes?" Rouge asked slightly irritated and amused.

"You look awful today," Knuckles said, "Perhaps fresh air will do you some good."

"_Or _perhaps you'll move your ass!" Rouge said.

He didn't budge an inch but still kept the same toothy grin and his sights upon the bat. Rouge tried to ignore him, but even as she moved around the tent, packing away items, she had a small grin that was slowing growing. S

he turned to look at Knuckles and burst out laughing, as he did as well.

" Dumbass!" She cried, bursting out in laughter and she managed to shove him playfully, "What do you want before I have to kill you?"

"Now that I have your undivided attention, come follow me," Knuckles said.

Rouge slowly followed after him out of the tent and saw him tearing through the bushes, "Hey! Wait! I have to pack up everything!

"You don't need to bring anything! We'll be back!" He shouted back to her.

* * *

Rouge followed after the red blur tearing through the shrubs and trees. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her and in a matter of seconds she was out of the jungle and she saw a waterfall, glittering and sparkling from the sun's sunlight. 

Steam hissed and floated away from the water gently as the wind's gentle breeze sprinkled her with droplets of water.

The view was breathtaking and she was speechless. She felt a heavy hand fall on her shoulder and the echidna spoke, "Welcome to Angel Falls."

Rouge smiled and turned to look glowingly at Knuckles, "This place…it's…it's…"

"Yeah, I know," Knuckles replied, "It's even lovelier at nightfall."

Then his vision fell upon Rouge, "Is this lake warmer than Angel Springs?"

Rouge looked at him puzzled, " Whaa?"

"Is this lake warmer than Angel Springs?" He asked again, only this time smiling.

" How should I—"

"I think you should find out," Knuckles replied.

Rouge arched an eyebrow at the echidna. A devious grin curled Knuckles' lips then he pushed Rouge over the cliff.

She gasped slightly then plummeted into the lake below. She surfaced and looked at Knuckles who was smiling demonically at her, then she smiled as well, "You creep! Wait until I get back up there!"

She tried to climb upon land, but ended up slipping and falling back in, Knuckles busted out laughing as the bat surfaced yet again.

He fell on his back from laughing so hard. Once he looked up, the batgirl was staring straight into his eyes, returning his devious smile.

With her wings flapping, she grabbed him and they both plummeted into the water.

Rouge surfaced laughing, but was soon splashed with water. She returned Knuckles' blow then they began having a tidal wave battle.

"Give it up batgirl! You can't handle this!" Knuckles grinned water drenching his face.

"_You_ give up! We don't want your long, pretty, girlie locks to get ruined!" Rouge bellowed, getting a handful of water in her mouth.

After showing off different types of dives, balancing on each other's shoulders and swinging on vines then letting go to plunge in the water, Knuckles and Rouge emerged from the water laughing.

Rouge turned to look at Knuckles, who quills were flipped over his face, and hiding his eyes; he looked absolutely ridiculous and Rouge burst out laughing.

"You know, if you want to, I can let you use my hairdryer! It'll make your hair pretty!" Rouge exclaimed laughing.

"That's right, only the best for _my_ hair!" Knuckles said playing up to Rouge and making her laugh even harder.

Once Rouge returned from her camping grounds, she brought a couple of blankets, towels, a cooking pot, two coffee mugs, two bowels with spoons, a hairdryer and a camera.

She turned her hair dryer on and put the cap on over Knuckles' head and took at least a doze pictures.

"Excuse, but this won't fizz myquills out, will it? Because I am perfection!" Knuckles said talking like a girl and making Rouge guffaw even harder.

After Knuckles' quills was finally dried, he fixed Rouge and himself a pot of butternut tea, and taproot soup.

The taproot soup had an earthly fresh taste but what drove Rouge crazy was the taste of the butternut tea. The butternut tea was unspeakably delicious.

It was a creamy, sweet brew with a heavenly hint of butter. The top of her mug bubbled with a golden foam like beer, and it smelled awesome. With just one swig of the tea, was felt warm and happy.

" This tea, is wonderful," Rouge said feeling delightfully relaxed and content.

"Yeah, too bad it only grows near the Angel Springs, or I'd have it all the time," Knuckles said.

"Knuckles, thank you," Rouge said dreamily helping herself to another cup of butternut tea, " I…I can't thank you enough for what you did today. So…thank you, again."

"Welcome. I'm just sorry we won't be able to do this again anytime soon," Knuckles replied.

Rouge took another swill of the butternut tea, "Knuckles, have you…have you ever had a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

Rouge looked interested, "Oh really? Why not? You're a sweet and handsome guy, girls would die for you."

Knuckles blushed slightly, "Thanks, but, like I told you, you're truly the only female I've known."

"What about Amy?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah, what _about _Amy?" Knuckles said sarcastically, which made Rouge giggle, "I don't _know_, know her, but I know her…You know?"

" Uhhhhh…." Rouge replied looking confused.

" Look, you're the only female I know, there," he said.

"Maybe one day, I'll take you out…NOT ON A DATE….but, to show you a bit of the city life," Rouge said.

"Sounds interesting," Knuckles said taking a sip from his foamy mug.

"Oh goodness me, look at the time! It just flies right by!" Rouge exclaimed looking at her watch.

" Why do you keep one of those things? They just end up telling you how far behind you are on your schedule," Knuckles said.

"What?"

"Never mind," Knuckles said shaking his head.

There was an awkward silence then Rouge said, " Well, I have to get some sleep…er, good night Knuckles…"

There was no response, so Rouge decided to walk away but Knuckles spoke up, " Batgirl?"

Rouge instantly whipped around and ran over to him extremely fast, scaring the daylights out of Knuckles, " _YES_?"

Knuckles slowly inched away from the bat who was smiling widely at him, with a semi-creepy look on her face, " Umm..I...uhh.."

"_SPIT IT OUT_!" she cried.

"….Okay then…if Rico bothers you again…_I_ want to speak with him," Knuckles said hiking a thumb at himself narrowing his eyes.

Rouge smiled then something came over her and she hugged him. Knuckles was startled and then, he too slowly wrapped his arms around Rouge.

She slowly released her hold on him then rose to her feet with a lovely smile, "Good night Knuckles."

"Good night batgirl," he replied.

She sauntered off, heading back to camp, and once Knuckles was sure she was gone, he pulled out a little red notebook and began like so:

_Day 961_

_Dear journal,_

_Today batgirl was extremely sad. She said it had to do with_

_a_ _so called 'boyfriend' a boyfriend is a person that likes a_

_girl_ _who wants to make her happy, no matter what. So could_

_I be Rouge's boyfriend? I want to make her happy, and I_

_did, today! I took her to Angel Falls, just like Sonic said I should_

_he_ _says, 'If you ain't got an expensive car, cash, or you're not me_

_then_ _you can't get a chick.' But it seems that Rouge doesn't like_

_artificial_ _beauty…oh, she likes the Master Emerald, huh? And another_

_question_ _rises. Why do females like gems? It's another question to be_

_answered, so until tomorrow, the end._

_Knuckles The Echidna_

_Age 16

* * *

_

To be continued!

Review and Alice shall renew!

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	6. The great stone necklace & French maids!

**Possibly Love?**

By AliceStar

* * *

(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!)

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Bright, radiant rays of sun peeled through thick, fluffy white clouds. A brand new day had arrived at Angel Island. Leisurely, the sun highlighted a slumbering echidna's face. At the great star's soft touch, Knuckles slowly began to awake.

He slowly opened his eyes to see a smirking white bat staring directly at him, arms akimbo. Sighing, Knuckles thought, '_It's_ _how early in the morning and already she's ready to get into it_…'

Casually, she leaned her weight against a gnarly tree. The presence of drowsiness around the scarlet echidna evaporated quickly once he spied her multiple suitcases beside her. Knuckles didn't need his super, awesome guardian senses to know that something was up.

"Good morning Knucklehead!" Rouge sang merrily.

"What are you up to now batgirl?" Knuckles asked suspiciously.

Knuckles quickly rose to his feet, however, before he could take a step towards her, he found himself none too gently hauled into the air. The guardian released a startled yelp as he found himself hanging upside-down in mid-air. He had been ambushed by the little white bat and now dangled helplessly from a rope tied at his ankles.

"Muwahaha!" Rouge cackled, throwing her head back, displaying a set of impressive fangs, "Success!"

"Hey! What is the meaning of this?" Knuckles demanded, feeling both confused and angered.

"What more is there to know?" Rouge purred smugly, "I set up a trap…and I've caught you! Now if you excuse me, I've got an emerald to find. It's been fun! And have a great time…just hanging out! Ha! Adios!"

Rouge walked over to the dangling echidna and gave his right cheek a playful tug. As she walked away, Knuckles tried fruitlessly to grab the treasure huntress. A grin spread across Rouge's face as she waved to him, and with a turn on her heel she disappeared in the thick, emerald jungle. Knuckles struggled in his new bonds, "Hey! Get back here batgirl! That was a lousy trick!"

Then he fell silent, "…See if I take you to another waterfall again!"

Snickering, Rouge trekked through knee-high shrubs, "That takes care of him! By the time he figures out how to get out, I'll be at least a couple of hours ahead of him!"

Rouge turned forward, a confident smirk still present, "Now then, on to more important matters…" She stopped traveling and gazed downward. The pale bat stood overlooking a great, tundra canyon. The canyon was a bright palette of vast colors, ranging from cool, icy azures to scorching crimsons, golds and gingers.

Thoughtfully, Rouge took in the lovely view one last time before she slid down the canyon, whooping in delight. Once she reached the bottom of the jagged, smoky-ginger hill, the treasure huntress picked up her belongings and began traveling through the colorful foliage.

As she traveled along, she came across a hill with a built in-stone passageway. The stone passage was great in stature, opening extensively like a vast, famished mouth. Silently, Rouge entered the stone passage, drinking in her surroundings with awe.

The dusty passage way had poured into a grand, stone cavern embellished with crumbling, tall statues. All of them displaying, strong echidna figures. Looking around, she saw that the room was illuminated faintly with torches. The stone ceiling seemed to have been miles away from the dusty floor she stood upon.

Walking past the imposing echidna sculptures, she saw a heavy granite door before her. The door easily quadrupled her in height and in width. Rouge frowned, just how was she supposed to open that door? Clearly, that was the direction she wanted to go.

Examining the door, she saw faded hieroglyphs, which were once freshly inscribed into the grand door. Rouge ran a careful finger across the length of the door, studying the soft powder it left upon her white gloves. She took another glance at the door, seeing an odd, large symbol carved above the hieroglyphics.

"…Looks kinda like a butterfly," Rouge mused to herself.

She slowly turned to glance back at the ancient statues, then decided to give them a better look. She stood before them, studying each of them, noticing the interesting garbs upon their strong frames. The males wore knee-length robes embellished with sashes while the females wore ankle-length, flowing gowns.

Secretly, Rouge decided that she had liked their jewelry, even if it was how many centuries old. Upon one of the female echidna's neck was an interesting necklace, Rouge was slightly surprised to see that it wasn't made of stone. The necklace was a jewel entwined in a sash of dyed papyrus.

The necklace was undeniably beautiful, but it seemed a bit gaudy, due to opulent size of the gem. It was at least as big as one of Rouge's palms. Enchanted by the necklace's beauty, Rouge examined the statue closer. The jewel in the necklace held a milky sheen, making it seem reminiscent of a pearl. And it had been fashioned in such an odd shape… Rouge gasped, when realization hit her.

"…It looks like a butterfly," Rouge said reaching for the necklace.

Gently, she removed the necklace and strode over to the door. She glanced at the necklace then held it before the door. A light rumble pulsed through the stone cavern. Rouge glanced at the warm, glowing pale jewel in her hand then gazed upon the rumbling door.

Obediently, the door opened, moaning as it slowly creaked open. A smirk played on Rouge's face as she tossed the necklace in her hands, "That's better! And personally, I think that door needs to be oiled…or something."

The treasure huntress stepped into a new room, acutely aware of the door, which sealed behind her. She turned forward, ready to continue her journey. She gazed at the necklace once more, "This just might come in handy."

She tied the necklace around her slender neck and traveled to the center of the room where she saw a large, circular opening in the stone ceiling. From the opening, seeped soft rays of light that illuminated what looked like a round stage.

"…Nifty idea, but I bet it's a pain when rain season comes along," Rouge said to herself.

She walked over to the elevated platform where she gazed skyward at the glinting sun. The white sun caused her to squint. Then she looked down at the round jewel she wore, which seemed to have been flickering.

"Eh? What's this?"

A loud, banging tore Rouge out of her thoughts and she turned around to see a couple of creeping figures approaching her. Slowly, the figures made an arch around her. From the darkness, she could barely make out their appearance, but once they stepped into the light, she gasped.

Standing before her were seven echidnas, glaring at her with cold, amethyst eyes. It was easily safe to assume that they were a class of warriors: war paint was streaked across their faces, bows and arrows were steady in their grip, and strong, muscular bodies were revealed by their adornment of breechcloths. Red and green headbands were plastered against foreheads as multicolored feathers and beads embellished both their quills and garments.

Rouge gulped, slowly surveying the hostile echidnas. As she prepared to take a step towards the echidnas, the warriors snarled and pulled the arrows back further. Rouge instantly halted in her steps.

Her eyes fell upon the first echidna that stepped forward; his quills feel nearly to his ankles, and unlike his subordinates, he had a short cloak flowing behind him. He spoke to Rouge in an incomprehensible tongue, but from reading his body language and his tone of voice, she could tell that he was questioning her.

"I…I don't understand you!" Rouge said shaking her head, trying to convey her thoughts.

Briefly the echidna spoke to his other fellow warriors. With all the speaking this, cloaked echidna did, she believed him to be the highest ranked warrior present. She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw that he had turned to face her, still glaring. He touched his neck then gestured towards the white bat.

"What? Oh, this?" Rouge asked glancing at the necklace.

'_I see, he's making reference to the necklace_,' she thought, lighting fingering the necklace within slender fingers, '_I guess I'll have to give it back then_.'

Rouge slowly began to remove the necklace, but frowned, realizing that it wouldn't come off. "Hold on a sec, I'll have it off in a second," Rouge said to the awaiting warriors.

Much less delicately, Rouge tugged at the necklace, but alas, it stayed around her neck. Rouge grimaced, now she was mad. "Why…doesn't…this stupid thing…COME OFF?" Rouge screamed, struggling with the necklace, "ARGH!"

Not willing to admit defeat to a necklace, Rouge continued to yank at the necklace, shouting as the warriors watched stunned, "STUPID! STUPID! NECKLACE! …ARRRRGH! GET OFF OF MY NECK! …..YOU'RE UGLY AND OLD ANYWAYS!"

The warriors glanced at each other unsure of what to do, but subtly, uncertainty was replaced by anger and their bows where locked unto the struggling white bat again. Shaking his head, the cloaked warrior signaled the other echidnas.

Rouge gasped when she saw an arch of arrows fly at her, she stumbled over her own steps and fell backwards onto the cold floor. Blue irises shrank to the size of dots and she turned her head away, shutting her eyes tightly.

'_All this over a necklace?_ _That's too bad, I lived such a short life! I'll never see him again_…' Rouge thought.

Rouge's thoughts were broken up as she felt firm, but gentle hands grab her swiftly and hoist her into the air. Rouge opened her eyes to see the world in a blur of colors. She was moving.

The necklace wielder gazed up to see a familiar red echidna holding her within his arms. His soft gaze had altered yet again to the fierce, smoldering glare. He held Rouge against himself tightly, as a mother hen would hold her chick. Rouge clutched both of her arms around his neck, feeling safe in his warm, firm, grasp.

"I really wouldn't do that again if I was you," Knuckles growled in his deep tenor, "It just might make me even more upset."

The red echidna stopped before the seven warriors, glaring fiercely at each of them. He slowly slinked into the light where they all saw received a clear view of him. Stunned, the warriors took a couple of steps away from him.

With one fist, Knuckles pounded his chest twice, then began speaking in their incomprehensible language with a deep growl. The head of the warriors spoke again, as Rouge detected, he sounded much more apologetic. The next gesture Knuckles made was unmistakable; he pointed a sure finger to the door and barked a single command at them.

Slowly, they replied by giving the guardian a deep bow then they returned his chest-pounding gesture and disappeared in thin air, on their way to the door. Knuckles lightly set Rouge on her feet, she gasped, "AAH! Did you see that, Knuckles? They disappeared! Poof! They _poofed_! What are they? I know they can't be…ghosts! Are they?"

Rouge's smile was returned by a cold glare from the guardian. Rouge's ears dropped as she saw his amethyst eyes radiate with anger, for a minute the white bat thought he could have been possessed by one of those echidnas!

"They were my ancestors," Knuckles said with a low growl, "And you were lucky they decided to comply with my demands."

Knuckles began walking towards another great stone door, with a familiar 'butterfly' insignia engraved in the stone. He placed a hand to the stone, carefully studying it. Rouge popped up next to the echidna, having a mischievous gleam in her eyes. Knuckles turned to face her and frowned in concern, '_Good Chaos, she has that look again…_'

" 'Comply with my demands'?" Rouge asked arching an eyebrow, "Are you telling me that you sent them off running with their tails between their legs?"

Knuckles blinked, "To a certain extent…I suppose I did…"

"So you have the power to order those dead guys around? How?" Rouge asked intrigued, hiking a thumb behind her.

If possible, Knuckles would have sweat-dropped, "Have a little more tact batgirl, those 'dead guys' are my ancestors. And I can 'request' them to 'listen' to my pleas because I am endowed with power as guardian of the Master Emerald."

"'Request'?" Rouge said smirking, "Ha! 'Requested' nothing! You demanded!"

Knuckles expression darkened, "Sometimes, you have to batgirl."

"Why?"

The fire-furred guardian glanced at the door, and read the craved symbols in the door. The door heard and obeyed, slowly opening. The two treasure hunters entered a long stony corridor, furnished with flames, and at the end of the stony passage was…grass! And plants! And trees!

Rouge had never been so happy to see nature, "Land! We're free!"

The ivory bat began dragging her luggage towards the exit, Knuckles arched an eyebrow, "You're still lugging those around?" Rouge stopped and frowned, gazing at him, "What do you mean, 'Still lugging those around?' Of course I am! I'm not leaving my stuff here! ALONE! Did you not see those de-- er, ghosts?"

Knuckled sighed, "Whatever."

As soon as they stepped out of the stony corridor, Rouge looked skyward, studying the blushing sky, which was filled with warm reds, pinks and oranges, "Hmm, I think its time to call it a day…"

The huntress set her large luggage down and began unpacking her belongings. She gazed up to see that Knuckles had returned from gathering logs for the fire. The red hunter sensed Rouge's stare and smirked at her. She returned his gesture then slowly turned her gaze to the green grass, '_Ma-maybe I should thank him…he did save my life back there after all_…'

"Umm, Knuckles?" Rouge began unsurely.

Knuckles glanced up immediately; from the quavering in her voice, he could tell it was important, "Hmm?"

"I…I," Rouge's eyes scanned around desperately, "I was wondering…do…do you have any of those purple berries?"

Knuckles frowned as he scrunched his nose up in distaste. Why would he carry those purple berries, anyhoo? They gave him a serious case of diaherra, "No!"

"Oh…that's ah…too bad then," Rouge said, "Well, I'll see you at dinner then!"

The necklace clad bat scrambled off into her tent, leaving a confused Knuckles staring after her. Rouge crawled out of his line of vision and hugged her knees as her face went scarlet, '_What's_ _wrong with me? What's so difficult about thanking a guy? He did save your sorry rear! It's the least you could do…and besides…wasn't he absolutely hot when he saved you back there?'_

Rouge blinked, becoming even more flustered at her thoughts, '_Did_ _I just THINK he was hot? Look at me, acting like a little school girl!'_

She sighed, '_I came here for the Master Emerald, not him! Get a grip, Rouge! But it was awfully sweet of him to help me out back there…so I will thank him, later tonight_.'

She nodded her head, and slowly opened her eyes. She blinked; it had gotten much darker since she first came into the tent. She arched an inquisitive eyebrow as she smelled a delicious scent drift into her tent.

Rouge peeled back the flaps of her tent as she gazed outside. She saw that a fire had been started and she also saw that some of her cooking utensils had been unpacked. Onto of the fire was one of her frying pans cooking simmering meats. Rouge inhaled the air gratefully, it smelled quite delicious.

Her keen ears detected soft movements originating from the trees. She looked to where the sounds came from and she saw a whistling echidna hauling a bucket, one-handled, over his shoulders.

The iron pale made a soft _ker-plunk_, as it was dropped on the ground, beside the idling echidna. Rouge stared dumbly at Knuckles, who gave the pan a fast swill, and tossed its contents into a bowl, which he handed to Rouge.

Silently Rouge stared at the bowl; looked like dinner tonight would be a fresh cod soup. And it smelled heavenly. Slowly, her gaze returned to the whistling echidna who was boiling more fish he had in his iron bucket.

"In case you couldn't figure it out, dinner's cod stew," Knuckles said with a smirk. Rouge shook her head, snapping out of her momentary daze, she went into her duffel bag beside the echidna and fished out two spoons.

"You forgot something," Knuckles said smirking, he pulled out two iron cups, "…Did they have a sell on iron or something? All your Tupperware is silver."

"Knuckles," Rouge said, lowering her head slightly.

"…Were you ripped off?"

"Knuckles, please listen," Rouge said, azure eyes reflecting softly in the firelight.

Knuckles' smile faded slightly, "Yes?"

"I just….," Rouge signed, she looked into soft, tender amethyst eyes. Something about them seemed to soothe her. Feeling relaxed, she continued, "I just want to thank you for…what you did today. You came to my aid, even after I hogtied you in a tree."

"…Don't worry about it," Knuckles said, turning his gaze to the sizzling pan. He poured the contents of the pan into a bowl for himself and shoved a spoonful into his mouth, "Your knot you tied sucked anyways."

Blinking, Rouge threw her head back laughing, then she smiled softly, "Well, thank you anyways, Knuckles…"

"No problem," Knuckles said, sipping the last juices from the bowl.

He sighed and leaned back, feeling ten pounds heavier. He heard another sigh and turned to look at Rouge who stretched out happily. It appears she liked his dinner too. Oh yeah, today he had definetly been in the zone with that cod stew; all the delicious seasonings, herbs and even the fresh cod itself made the meal to die for.

Smiling, his gaze lazily fell from her content smile to her neck…

'_That's quite a lovely necklace_…' Knuckles thought to himself.

The guardian blinked, then sat up quickly, eyes studying the neck ornament much more intensely. His eyes widened once he recognized the necklace. Knuckles felt a cold chill run through his spine; that pretty peal-colored stone necklace couldn't be what he thought it was.

"No…it can't be…" he said slowly.

"Hmm? What did you say Knucklehead?" Rouge asked, returning a gentle smile.

Knuckles quickly rose to his feet and marched over towards the white bat, the odd gleam in his eyes signified that something wasn't right. All mirth had been drained viciously and now his face was utterly stern.

"Umm, Knuckles, what are you doing? What's wrong?" Rouge asked, blinking up at him.

The guardian stopped before the treasure huntress, she couldn't tell if the firelight was responsible for the anomalous glints in his eyes. Knuckles studied her in silence, making no move before her. Then suddenly his hand reached out towards her.

If Rouge didn't know any better, she'd think that he suddenly become bold and tried reaching for her…

"Hey! What are you doing?" Rouge hissed, stumbling backwards, crawling away from him.

"_Stop_," Knuckles commanded in an icy voice.

Rouge's eyes widened slightly as she lost all control over her movements. The huntress struggled, trying to move her limbs, but she couldn't move them! Only her eyes were able to dart to and fro. Even her speech was impeded.

Knuckles kneeled in front of her and fingered the necklace, then he sharply looked up at her, a rare sign of fury etched across his face, "WHAT, in the name of the Master Emerald, are you doing wearing this? _Speak._"

"I needed this to open the doors," Rouge said returning a glare of her own, "Or did you not know that?"

"This," Knuckles said grabbing the necklace, but still holding his furious gaze at Rouge, "is a sacred ornament of the Master Emerald! Only those with the sacred blood…_my_ blood, can wear this!"

Rouge smirked, "Hmph, it doesn't look too bad on me though, huh?"

"…So then…that explains why the warriors came after you," Knuckles said submerged in his own thoughts, he turned, glaring at Rouge, "Do you _know _what you have done?"

"Well, I can't undo what I've--"

"Will you be silent for one second?" Knuckles snapped, "Here you are trying to out-speak me about something you know nothing of!"

Rouge fell silent, gazing up at the red echidna, who mirrored her fierce gaze. Knuckles narrowed his eyes, "Finally. Now, as I was saying, you know nothing about this necklace! As I said earlier, only my bloodline can wear this necklace. And why's that? Because that's apart of who we are and we've been privileged with being the guardians of the Master Emerald."

The guardian narrowed his eyes as his fingers found themselves rubbing the pearly-jewel, " It is taboo for anyone else to wear the necklace, because when they do, every single, ancestor is alerted that the Master Emerald is in danger. And do you know what happens? That's right; the ancestors come looking for the intruder…_You_."

As Knuckles carried on, the more his ire seemed to grow, like a raging inferno, " Those soldiers you met today, oh yeah, they were ancestors, and it's a good thing that they decided to listen to me. I guarantee you that if you cross other ancestors, the _not_-so-nice ones, even I won't be able to help you. I may guard the Master Emerald but I can't control them…"

Knuckles' expression softened as he saw the look of fear flash across Rouge's face. Knuckles sighed, then slowly rose to his feet, "_Stand_."

Slowly, Rouge rose to her feet, gazing softly at the guardian. Knuckles turned to look at her, both his gaze and tone were oddly dull, "If you're going to survive on this island, then I'm going to have to take you through the quickest route to the Master Emerald…"

Rouge blinked, gazing at the guardian who looked away, "…The Master Emerald is the only one that can help you now…"

"Knuckles, I-I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to cause you all this trouble," Rouge said fighting back tears.

Rouge was surprised when she saw the tall guardian turn to face her with a sorrowful expression. That very look on his face made her heart bleed. Knuckles the echidna was never sad! He was always cool and collected, sometimes he was a little arrogant and condenscending, but sad was something he never was.

This crimson-furred, purple-eyed guardian was a proud creature, not a sullen one. Pity was something that just looked absolutely foreign on his strong face. Rouge had to deter her eyes; looking at him made her feel awful.

'_Why is he sad? I'm the one who'll have all the nasties after me_,' Rouge thought blinking.

"Look," Knuckles said, running a hand through his unruly locks, "Don't worry about it batgirl, I'll…we'll take care of things."

Rouge sighed slightly, Knuckles smiled; at least he had removed some of the tension in the air…but, just to be sure…

"Well…now that you are wearing the necklace, you will obey my every command," Knuckles said slowly smirking at the white bat.

The bat's face blanched, "Wh-what are you…you wouldn't!"

An evil smirk tugged at Knuckles' face, "Oh yes I would. If I'm going to go through all the trouble of saving you…again, then I at least need….well, consider this your payment to me."

Knuckles took a seat on a stray log, looking as arrogant as a king in his castle, "Rouge?"

The white bat glared at him, "What? Knucklehead?"

Knuckles smirked, "Is that anyway to address me? Your superior?"

"You're absolutely right," Rouge said glaring at him, "Oh mister superior, you can kiss my--"

"_Address me properly_," Knuckles said lightly, waving a finger at her.

The white grimaced, fighting an odd feeling welling inside of her, but she responded, "Forgive me. Yes, Knuckles, sir?" A look of horror crossed Rouge's face as one of eminent pleasure spread upon Knuckles' face, "Hmm, maybe this whole necklace ordeal isn't quite so bad after all."

Knuckles leaned back in thought, while Rouge gave him the most awful glare she could muster up. Knuckles finally spoke, "I remember one time, when Sonic took me into the city, he took me to an odd shop, a 'Pawn Shop' he called it, anyway, and I saw something that fascinated me."

A twisted smile curled on Knuckles' face, "Since you're going to be my indenture servant for the night…you wouldn't happen to…have a French maid dress, would you?"

Rouge glared, face flustered, "Now why in the world would I bring one here, on Angel Island…_with you being here_?"

"Aww," Knuckles frowned, "Fine then_, find something to wear, similar to one then." _

Blinking, Rouge turned on a heel, and left into her tent, however, Rouge didn't go happily, or quietly, "Power-hungry jerk!"

Knuckles smirked, ever from where he was sitting; he could hear the noises from the zippers of her suitcase. The echidna chuckled to himself. So, Rouge the Bat was at his every command now, huh?

The same Rouge the Bat who was hot-headed, quick-tempered, arrogant, and beautiful? Perhaps this evening wouldn't be too boring at all. '_Hmm_,' Knuckles thought, sitting back, looking at the sky with his hands behind his head, '_Who would have thought something so terrible would have such perks_?'

The echidnas' ears perked as he heard shuffling footsteps approach him. Smirking, Knuckles slowly sat up, then almost lost his balance when he saw Rouge's outfit. The disgruntled bat stepped before him wearing a black and hot pink lacy bell-dress that reached her mid-thigh.

The dress was strapless and fit the curves of her round bosom. Curiously, Knuckles glanced at the white bat's ankles to see that she was wearing bright, red pumps, which nicely matched with the crimson headband upon her head.

The only thing the bat could say was, "…I truly…hate you…"

A large grin spread across Knuckles's face, he leaned forward, looking much more interested, "That'll do. Now then, French maid, clean up all of our dinner; tupperware and dishes."

Automatically, Rouge responded to his request, all the while glaring at him. Smiling, Knuckles watched her every movement. Just as she finished rinsing a dish, Knuckles saw one last cup that she had forgot to put away.

"Nursemaid," Knuckles said, he turned and pointed to the small cup.

Rouge turned and frowned, "You go get it!"

Knuckles smiled, crossing his arms over his chest, "Still fighting, huh? I'd really prefer it if _you went and picked it up_."

Rouge about-faced then turned and went to the last remaining cup. While stomping over to the forgotten little cup, she cursed Knuckles, his mother, and even those weird ghost guys she saw eariler. Anyone who was possible related to Knuckles was cursed.

"Okay, little fella," Rouge said, "Come to mama!"

Instead of taking a knee and picking up the cup, Rouge bent forward scooping up the cup. The watchful echidna…, who was sitting right _behind _her when this happened, glowed twelve shades of red, this time he _completely_ fell from his seat.

Smiling Rouge gazed at the cup, then glanced at Knuckles, "What's wrong with you?" Rouge asked, putting away the last cup.

"Nuh-nothing," Knuckles said trying to recollect himself, "Um…kuh-_come over here and give me a massage_."

Rouge replied and began giving him a gentle massage, Rouge sighed, '_This_ _is gonna be a long journey_.'

Knuckles gulped, '_This is gonna be a long journey_,'

Frowning, Rouge bowed, getting a better glimpse of Knuckles' face, "Are you sure nothing's wrong? You're at least twelve shades redder! Are you sick? Dying? Do you have a fever? It's awfully could out here! (gasp) Are you choking?"

Knuckles buried his burning face in his left palm, "…Leave me ALONE batgirl! I'll even let you try me up in a tree again, if you stop asking me questions!"

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To be continued! 

-Stay tuned for the next chapter & review and Alice shall renew!

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


	7. Dreams & the great stone necklaces

**Possibly Love? **

**By: AliceStar **

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**(Sonic and Company belong to Sega! Not me!) **

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The dreamy, slumbering sky was curled in blankets of deep fuchsias and indigos. The early morning chill still blanketed the entire island. By normal standards, it was much too early to be up.

…However a certain echidna felt otherwise…

He had crept into the white bat's tent by tip-toeing almost in a comical manner. Now he waited silently behind one of her mauve traveling suitcases. He slowly rose to peer at the still form before him. Excitedly, a large smile ignited upon his face; oh how he was going to get that girl back for dangling him from a tree!

'_Like a freakin' piñata,'_ he thought disgruntled.

Buried happily in the dream world was the huntress herself. A small, light smile danced upon her lips as she snuggled deeper into her warm, fluffy blanket quilts. Knuckled stared down at the figure he loomed over; his plan was perfect and…

… She was absolutely defenseless.

Slowly, Knuckles rose a quivering, ice-cold bucket of water. Just as he heaved a stream in Rouge's direction, she rolled over, avoiding the water. Knuckles tried again as Rouge sighed happily and turned over.

"…"

The crimson echidna blinked stupidly as he looked from the bucket in his hands to the bat lying at his feet. He dropped the last of its contents directly above her head, and somehow, she maneuvered to avoid the icy blow as well. Knuckles knotted his brow and clenched his fists tightly. A silent fury overtook the echidna as he cursed silently.

He tromped out of the tent furiously and turned to look back at Rouge, "…You will _NOT _defeat me!" Then he left, hastily closing the flap behind him. Yawning lightly, Rouge rolled over yet again, still smiling. She even had the nerve to have giggled gleefully in her sleep.

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_Although Rouge didn't quite understand the occasion, all she knew was that she was finally getting the treatment that she deserved. __She found herself in a large, ivory room well-lavished with beautiful flowers and scents. __Mounds, if not mountains of gold and precious jewels were stacked on either side of the throne she was on. _

_…Yes, she was mounted on a throne at an almost ridiculous altitude where her guests had to crane their necks to gaze upon her splendor; and Rouge loved it. _

_Also, she found herself in a bedazzling, sparkling lavender dress with long, pale white gloves and matching sparkling lavender glass stilettos. __But the coupe de grace was the silver, jewel-crested tiara that rested upon her head like a glittering wreath. _

_At first Rouge was dismayed to find that her circlet was made of silver in place of gold, but after speaking to one of her servants, who was dressed in a purple gown, she found out that her tiara was actually made of white gold! _

_Dreamily she gazed at her audience below her, there were at least one million people dabbling in her beautiful hall! And all dressed to impress their Empress. _

_…Or at least Rouge assumed that she was an Empress… _

_She shrugged, either way they were giving her gift after gift! And what she saw, she liked! _

_"Gift, after gift, after gift, …and Rouge likes it!" Rouge laughed happily. _

_She gazed at her matching white-gold scepter, smiling, then pointed it in the nearest passersby's face, "You there, fetch me more presents!" _

_The servant bowed, "At once your ladyship." _

_" Good," Rouge smiled, " And you, fetch me a mocha cream frappicuno, on the rocks!" _

_In a matter of seconds Rouge was slipping her delicious drink and a group of people appeared before her, " My Ladyship, your gift--er, friends are here." _

_"Hmm?" Rouge ducked her head lower to gaze at the guests before her. To her delight, it was her friends! _

_…And Sonic was there too… _

_" Hello Empress Rouge!" Amy bellowed, waving at her, " We brought gifts." _

_"Ah, my royal…er…people!" Rouge piped, " Hello!" _

_"Good day your grace," Amy addressed with a curtsey, "We bring you your fair gifts!" _

_"I brought perfume and mahogany!" Tails exclaimed. _

_"And I brought ribbons and silk!" Cream smiled. _

_"And I brought diamonds and pearls!" Amy squealed. _

_"And I brought my companionship and loyalty!" Sonic replied. _

_" Thank you Tails, Amy, and Cream," Rouge smiled, "And as for you Sonic…you can get the hell outta my court!" _

_Everyone in the court laughed. Rouge herself laughed at that one until one servant appeared before her, " My ladyship! My lady! But there is one more gift! For there is a stranger who claims to have come from faraway." _

_"A stranger huh," Rouge rubbed her chin in thought, "….But they got a gift? Well, send em' on in!" _

_The door opened and all the once bumbling guests fell silent as they turned to gaze upon the new arrival. They created a single path to allow the stranger to appear before the Empress. __Rouge herself sat up and squinted her eyes to gaze upon the stranger. From where she sat she could only tell that he was wearing a deep maroon cape with a matching hat. _

_The room fell so silent that the glittering Empress was able to hear the light footsteps of the approaching stranger. __Curiously she peered from her stoop and saw that he was matching in leather boots. _

_Finally, when the stranger was at the foot of her stool he bowed gracefully, allowing her to see the top of his hat, and the dark feather that stuck out from its side. H__e raised his head and the Empress gasped, "Knuckles?" _

_The red echidna took off his hat and bowed smoothly, " I'm glad to see that the beautiful Empress remembers me." _

_The Empress's cheeks burned nearly the same color as the stranger's suit, "Well, you certainly know what to say to a fair lady, Knuckles!" _

_"If you want my gift," Knuckles began smiling, " then you'll have to come down he--" _

_Before he could finish, Rouge had performed a masterful midair-flip and landed before him nonchalantly, "…Yes?" _

_Knuckles sweat-dropped momentarily before he spoke, "…Er, follow me your grace." _

_Vaguely, Rouge noticed that the tall stranger took her by the hand and led her through a vigilant crowd. __After being his shadow momentarily, Rouge realized that he was taking her to the balcony. __Once they were upon the ivory balcony, which had an excellent view over the kingdom, Knuckles released the bat's hand. Blinking, Rouge watched him earnestly as he turned to face her. _

_The gaze upon his face was so wonderful that if caused the young Empress to flush a soft shade of rose, "…My gift you promised?" _

_Knuckles smiled, "… Now you have to close your eyes." _

_The Empress obliged and the stranger did likewise. He slowly approached the Empress who's face was burning. Just when she felt his warm breath upon her face… _

_…He splashed her with a bucket of water..._

**

* * *

**

"Aaaaaah!" Rouge exclaimed.

Knuckles laughed, slowly walking to leave the tent, "…Good morning batgirl. If we're going to find the Master Emerald as fat as we can…we gotta go now!"

The guardian left the tent with a wicked smile as Rouge sat up looking somber. She gazed around the room looking for her mountain-high stack of jewels and riches. She even groped the air for her crown, and looked around, but to no avail she saw no presents or gold, only the fuchsia flaps of her tent.

Rouge sniffled, "…My scepter.."

The treasure huntress curled her hands into tight fists as she slowly rose from her bed. She had a few words that she really wanted to say to a certain echidna…

...Really dirty, not so-nice words too.

She stuck her head outside of the tent and scanned the area, but to her disliking there was no echidna. She leapt out of the tent furiously, searching for the vermilion guardian. Rouge ceased her mad search when her eyes finally fell upon the retreating form of the red echidna. Rouge smiled roguishly, and took to following him.

* * *

With a merry swagger, Knuckles strolled through leafy green bushes, making use of a short-cut he had discovered one day.He looked to his left and gazed at an odd shaped redwood. In Knuckles' opinion, the tree looked like a kicking boot. 

'_Yep, there's the gnarled kicking-tree_,' Knuckles thought to himself, ' _I'm going the right way_.'

The claret echidna continued on his way, whistling happily while dragging a tin pale after himself. After cutting through a couple of thick flowering-bushes, Knuckles found himself at his destination. Before him was a fairly shallow, icy-blue river. This was the place Knuckles had dubbed, ' Angel River.'

Yep, this was definitely one of the best places to catch the freshest, most delicious fish.

Then Knuckles blinked as a stray thought crossed his mind, '_Wait a minute, I called this place Angel River when there's Angel Island, Angel falls, Angel Springs…Boy, maybe a little creativity wouldn't kill me…' _

The guardian shrugged the thought off as he sat at the grassy riverbank and proceeded to plop himself on a comfy patch o' land and gaze at the river. Just as he spotted a fish wiggling around in the shallowest area of the water, the sound of heavy, pounding foot steps lured him out of his train of thought.

Knuckles gazed over his shoulder at the person that stood behind him; it was Rouge. The smiling guardian regarded her curiously as she gasped deep, furious breaths. In no way was Knuckles a fool, he knew perfectly well what was bothering her; it was his antic he had pulled on her earlier, "…Can I help you Rouge, why you seem….distressed?"

Rouge stared at him with furious, flaming blue eyes. Mildly, Knuckles had noticed that she had the mind to first change out of her sleeping clothes before she tracked him. The huntress snarled, "…You've done it this time dreadie-locks! I'm going to _royally_ kick…your…_ass_!"

Knuckles laughed, "Oh batgirl, it was time for you to wake up anyways, I was just doing my job as--"

Before Knuckles could even finish, Rouge rushed him, screaming hellishly, "_I'll kill you, red_!"

Screaming, Rouge managed to take the crimson warrior by surprise and tackle him into the nearby river.Knuckles plummeted into the water back-first with a yelp. Quickly Knuckles surfaced, hastily removing water from his mouth. He allowed himself to be carried by the river's current, he searched around swiftly for Rouge, "Batgirl? Where are you? Ba--"

Knuckles was cut off mid-sentence as he felt a pair of ice-cold hands cover his mouth. Moments later, he was dunked underwater, courtesy of Rouge. Knuckles flailed his arms and screamed as Rouge repeatedly dunked him underwater.

The huntress snarled like a rabid wolverine the entire time, "YOU (_Dunk_) THOUGHT (_Dunk_) YOU'D (_Dunk_) GET AWAY WITH THAT (_Dunk_) SCOTT-FREE?"

Coughing, and spluttering water, Knuckles slipped out of Rouge's grasp. He tried to distance himself as she barked at him, " COME BACK HERE!"

"Have you lost your mind, batgirl?" Knuckles hissed, "Here, let me help you…CLEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!"

Knuckles sent a wave of water straight into Rouge's face, she coughed then returned a splash of water. Furiously, Knuckles returned the blow turning the battle into an all-out water warfare. After back and forth splashing for what seemed like hours, Knuckles brought down a furious fist upon the water and sprung the water over Rouge's head.

Rouge resurfaced looking not furious, but terrified. Knuckles clenched a victorious fist as he laughed, "Ah-HA! Serves you right batgirl. Think again when it comes to battling me!"

The ivory bat merely squeaked. Knuckles laughed and gazed at her slyly, "Oh-ho, so now you've been humbled for good, huh?"

Rouge pointed behind the red hunter and squeaked again, only this time louder, but Knuckles didn't even bother to turn around, "Now that's getting just plain annoying batgirl…Although it beats having to listen to you rant."

"I'M POINTING TO THE WATERFALL YOU IDIOT!" Rouge yelled as clear as day.

"…Eh?"

"THE WATERFALL! _THE WATERFALL_!"

Knuckles turned around and looked where the huntress was pointing. Sure enough, a waterfall was no more than a few meters from where they waded, "…Oh…"

With a startled yelp, Knuckles about-faced and started paddling as hard as he could. He managed to make it over to Rouge who was screaming her head off. Just as he was about to pass the bat, Rouge grabbed onto him, paddling frantically as well.

But after minutes of paddling, they were slowly being sucked towards the waterfall. It looked as if taking a ride on the waterfall would be inevitable.Rouge glanced over her shoulder as she glimpsed at the approaching waterfall, "Ah! Knuckles! We're gonna fall!"

Still refusing to give up, Knuckles clenched his eyes closed and padded faster as Rouge's grip upon him tightened. Knuckles felt himself at the edge of the waterfall, and even began to totter, "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!"

Dramatically, Rouge shot her arm forward as they plunged backwards, falling through the air, "NOOOOOOO!"

* * *

_"Ha!" _

_Knuckles instantly sat up, a deadly scowl upon his face. He surveyed the scene around him and found that he was… _

_"…At the top of the Master Emerald shrine?" _

_Knuckles slowly rose to his feet as he took at better look around. Indeed, he was on the top of the infamous shrine. But the entire appearance of the shrine itself was different. T__he once dead, crumbling structure was restored to its beautiful stoic stature. _

_The marble crafting of the building was clean and well-polished, and the intricate insignias and hieroglyphics appeared to have been freshly carved into the marvelous structure. __The pedestal for the Master Emerald, and the seven chaos emeralds alike, was a sight to behold. _

_Knuckles slowly walked down the well-furnished stone steps and gazed at the green grass and the translucent rivers that winded around the shrine. There were even adorable little blue chao playing in the water! __It was only when Knuckles glimpsed down at the splashing Chao in the water that he noticed his reflection and his apparel. The red guardian was cloaked in a long, deep green robe that brushed the ground. _

_He also noted the matching emerald headband tied around his head. Carefully, he gently rubbed the tiny emerald shard tied around his neck. __Knuckles blinked at his reflection; …were his eyes green? _

_The complete, honorary emerald robes, the warrior's circlet of courage, the token shard of the Master Emerald, and the Emerald-infused eyes…these were all badges of the great deeds that he had accomplished. _

_The emerald robes came from the fulfillment of Emerald guardianship. The warrior's circlet of courage honored the great status of a powerful warrior. __The token shard of the Master Emerald was given to one of the most trustworthy echidna's to protect and revere for a lifetime._

_And the Emerald eyes were a gift from the Master Emerald itself; this meant that it had granted its chosen user a channel to its power. __Knuckles was shocked; was this a dream? He held such a prestigious status that many echidna could only dream of obtaining. __He sighed deflatedly; it had to be a dream, there was no way that he could restore such dignity to the Master Emerald… _

_…Could he? _

_Just as Knuckles made his way from the shrine, he suddenly felt a pair of hands encircle his waist. __The red echidna blinked; yes, this couldn't be a dream, he felt those warm hands! _

_If this wasn't a dream, then… _

_"There you are Knuckles! We were getting so worried about you!" _

_Knuckles turned to face the owner of the voice and saw that it was, "…ROUGE?" _

_Rouge slowly removed her hands from Knuckles and took a step away from the gaping echidna, "Yes silly, who did you think?" _

_Knuckles almost choked at the sight of the white bat before him. She was adorned in beautiful echidna silk garments. __She wore a shiny, silky pink midriff top that showed off her toned stomach. __And hanging loosely from her waist was a matching rose-colored sarong. _

_The sides of her sarong had high slits in them which showed off shapely, tan legs. __A small, silver tiara crowned her with a single, shinning emerald gem. __Rouge stood akimbo as she glared at him playfully, "All right, spill it, where have you been all day? I missed you, you know." _

_Knuckles blinked, appearing absolutely shocked, "…You did?" _

_Rouge laughed; not cruelly as she usually did, but fancifully, as if amused, "Of course I did. Why would I not miss my husband?" _

_Knuckles face seemed to almost glow red, "I'm your husband!?" _

_"Okay, now I agree with Courage; yes even you, the hero of the echidna race need a vacation." _

_"Courage?" Knuckles asked confused. _

_Rouge rolled her eyes, "You know, the little red, blue-eyed echidna that looks kind of like his father?" _

_A small red echidna entered the scene. Just as his beautiful wife had said, the little Knuckles look-alike had his mother's stunning blue eyes, "Hi dad! Wanna play football now?" _

_Knuckles glanced back and forth between Rouge and…this so called Courage character. U__ndeniably the kid, despite the lighter eyes, looked like a little knock-off of his father. _

_"Son...?" Knucles' voice nearly squeaked._

_The little echidna laughed, "Dad's so funny, huh mommy?"_

_Rouge arched an eyebrow, "Yes, your father does have problems, but we love him anyways, don't we?"_

_Knuckles turned his gaze to Rouge who looked, well…like a woman begging to be loved in a heap of wild passion. The great guardian allowed his eyes to travel to her trim midriff then to fall and catch a glimspe of her golden, sun-kissed thighs. She was just beautiful and the emotions she provoked in him were great. _

_"If this isn't a dream," Knuckles said almost in a growl; he began inching his way ominously towards the white bat who stared at him curiously, "…Then I want…the biggest…most passionate kiss that you can muster…Because if this isn't a dream, then you won't let me have it." _

_The tiara-crested Rouge looked away thoughtfully, then she shrugged apathetically, "Okay…I guess…" _

* * *

"Ugh….my head…my lovely, perfect head…" 

Rouge slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying in a swallow pool of water.She quickly rose and squeezed the water from her hair. Just how in the heck had she survived that fall? Rouge gazed skyward in thought; oh yeah! That's right, she had clung tightly to Knuckles, who had managed to glide and take some of the air out of their fall. Then the huntress narrowed her eyes, just where was that sonovagun?

The huntress turned about forty-five degrees to see an approaching Knuckles. Rouge arched an eyebrow; was it her or did he look really, really miffed? Well, not mad…but he looked intense. He was slowly stomping towards her with an odd sparkle in his eyes.

Rouge placed a single hand on her hip as she glared at the advancing echidna, "So, you're back for more, huh? Ready for round two?"

Her smile disappeared as Knuckles suddenly sliced a tree in halves with his knuckles, "…" Rouge's attitude suddenly flipped as he began to storm towards her with that ever-creepy dead-gaze, "Er…Kn-nuckles?"

The echidna continued to approach her as she started to back away from him. Then it eventually turned into a dead full-out sprint, "Ke-KEEP YOUR DISTANCE!"

**

* * *

**

_Just as Knuckles seemed to be approaching the tiara-crowned Rouge, she giggled and took off, starting to run through forest terrain, "You have to catch me first!" _

_"Wait!" Knuckles took off after the running bat who was laughing, and throwing seductive glances back at him. Knuckles tore after her, following her like a tracker. _

_"This should be easy for you to catch me husband," Rouge purred, "Especially as great as a hunter as you are…" _

_Sure enough, Knuckles started picking up her trek until he was hot on her trail. __Then with a not too entirely rough push, Knuckles grabbed Rouge from behind and they both went down laughing. __Smiling, though panting slightly, Knuckles stared down at the smiling, but huffing Rouge, who laid underneath his gentle grasp, " Gotcha…"_

* * *

Shivering, Rouge stared at Knuckles wide-eyed, he muttered one clear word as he stared at her with those odd, almost possessed eyes. The huntress squirmed under his grasp as Knuckles' smiled sharpened, " Knuckles! You're overreacting! …Yeah the waterfall fall was scary…but COME ON!"

She stopped talking as she felt the echidna gently grasp her chin. Now she was confused; was he going to kill her or wasn't he? Not that anyone in their right mind would want to be. She got an idea of his true intentions when he slowly closed his eyes and began to slowly descend closer to the bat's flushing face.

Blushing wildly, Rouge stared at him as she watched helplessly, '_He's really gonna do it! He really is_!'

Just as Knuckles was mere inches from Rouge, a brilliant, white light flared from the stone of her creamy, pearly necklace. Almost immediately, the dead gaze within his eyes broke and he blinked. He yelped slightly as he realized just what exactly he was about to _do_, and dropped the unconscious bat; it appears that she had fainted from so much stress.

"Rouge?"

"_Bleh_…" Rouge was out like a snuffed candle.

Knuckle quickly hopped off of the bat and looked at her, '_Good Chaos, what is wrong with me_?'

The red warrior lowered his gaze, then noticed that glowing gem upon Rouge's neck. It looked like a miniature version of a glowing moon. He arched an eyebrow as he slowly gripped it within his fingers. The jewel was icy to his touch, like a block of ice.

Slowly, the moon-colored gem's light died away as it returned to its normal state. Knuckles' furrowed his brow as he started at the gem, "…Where you responsible for all of that?"

Knuckles looked at the fainted Rouge, "…Whatever this means…I better get you to the Master Emerald…and quick..."

* * *

To be continued! 

-Sorry about the lack of updates, but here you are, O faithful fans! Expect much quicker updates!

-LuV, Allygurl 8D


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